Share

If your HIV or hepatitis regimen includes a drug manufactured by Gilead Sciences, the pharmaceutical company wants you to know that its supply chain for those meds is “robust and resilient.”

“We have received phone calls and emails from patients around the world over the past several weeks wondering whether we are facing shortages of our HIV medicines and other products as the coronavirus outbreak worsens,” states an article on Gilead’s website. “The answer to this question is a firm no.” The article’s title, “Making Medicines: We Have Adequate Supply Across our HIV, Hepatitis Portfolios,” underscores that point.

Patients are likely concerned not only because of the general uncertainty resulting from COVID-19, the possibly fatal lung disease caused by the novel coronavirus but also because of the fact that Gilead announced it was curtailing emergency access to its drug remdesivir, a contender for the treatment of COVID-19. As Fierce Pharma reports, Gilead exceptions would be made for pregnant women and children younger than 18 with severe COVID-19.

The remdesivir situation does not affect Gilead’s supply of hepatitis and HIV meds, including those used as PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, to prevent HIV. The pharma giant’s arsenal of HIV drugs includes Atripla, Biktarvy, Complera, Descovy, Emtriva, Genvoya, Odefsey, Stribild, Truvada, Tybost and Viread. Its liver disease meds include Epclusa, Harvoni, Hepsera, Sovaldi, Vemlidy, Viread and Vosevi.

“Gilead’s global commercial supply chain is robust and resilient with the right processes in place, geographic diversity in our supply chain and enough of the materials required to make our medicines,” read a press release from Gilead. “We have done this purposefully and carefully to enable continued supply of Gilead’s medicines in a challenging situation like the one we face today. As a result, we are not seeing, and we do not anticipate, shortages of Gilead marketed products, including our HIV treatment or prevention medicines, in the foreseeable future.”